Identifying Green Infrastructure to Prioritise Conservation and Restoration in a Peatland Dominated Landscape

Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation have reduced the capacity of ecosystems to deliver ecosystem services and are also some of the leading causes of biodiversity decline. In response, the EU Nature Restoration Law sets legally binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems by 2050. Effective planning of restoration, using tools such as Green Infrastructure (GI), which enable identification of multifunctional natural and semi-natural networks, are essential to meeting these targets. We aimed to establish a GI network to prioritise conservation and restoration efforts for the peatland dominated landscape of northwest Co. Mayo, Ireland, a region which has been fragmented through a combination of multiple human-related activities, marking the first such study in this environmental context. The GI was established by identifying core areas and corridors based on both ecosystem service supply and the movement of focal species, using the Linkage Mapper toolkit. We then identified pinchpoints, where connectivity is constricted, and barriers in the GI network, as conservation priorities and restoration opportunities, respectively. Core areas within the GI network covered 87,315 ha, or 34%, of the study area, and connectivity between core areas was generally good. We identified a number of pinchpoints and barriers within the GI network, as well as several priority areas for ecological restoration where pinchpoints and barriers overlapped. The main barriers to movement for focal species were conifer plantations, degraded peatland and marine water. The study demonstrated how GI network mapping through a combined ecosystem service and focal species approach can be a useful tool for effectively planning conservation and restoration action in a peatland dominated landscape.